The full extent of the hit taken by the charity sector's comms has been revealed by research showing that many are running without a budget.

A survey carried out by CharityComms has shown that a third of small charities have no comms budget.

Meanwhile, the number of large charities employing more than ten press officers has dropped from 46 per cent to 17 per cent in four years.

The news comes soon after charities hit out at Government plans to put a cap on tax-free donations.

Among the 279 charities polled, 25 per cent reported that staff numbers had been cut as a result of the economic climate.

The research also pointed out that many charity comms PROs had expressed fears over job security.

Vicky Browning, director of CharityComms, said: 'Keeping the brand fresh, relevant and exciting is a vital challenge for all charities, and comms teams need sufficient resources to be able to deliver that challenge.'

More than half of respondents (53 per cent) felt they had an organisational structure that respected comms.